Shipping-tag.



R.-M. NICHOLS. SHIPPING TAG. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7, 1914- 1,803,902.Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Shippers Receipt Conmgnee T8: Number fir Elan/ t Co. Bprees INVENTOR.WITSSES: I? #7. MIC/10L s ATTORNEYS.

R. M NICHOLS.

SHIPPING TAG.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. HI 1914.

Patented Nov; 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- I I I I I I I I I I l A l l I l l I l I l I l I ll INVEN TOR. 7? A7, Aha/0 3 WITNESSES Minn n. mesons, or SAN rnancrsco,canmonma.

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To all whom it may concern:

- at the Be it known that I, Rnnrr M. NIoHoLs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, 'Stateof California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShipping-Tags, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to shipping tags which are to be attached topackages which are shipped or carried by express companies,

railroad or steamship companies or by the Post Office Department.

The object of the invention is to provide a shipping tag which willgreatly lessen the work involved in making and keeping records of thereceipt, transportation and delivery of packages.

Another object 'of the invention is to provide a shipping tag whichcomprises a shippers receipt, a copy thereof to be retained by thetransportation organization ointof receipt of the package, a destinationtag showing name and address of consignee and consignor, an auditorsstub showing the routing of the package and an acknowledgement ofreceipt to be signed by the consignee. It is notnecessary that theshipping tag contain all of these elements, but in its complete form,for some purposes, it may contain all of these elements. 7

The invention possesses many other advantageous features, which, withthe foregoing, will be set forth at length 1n the following description,where I shall outline in full that form of the invention which Ihaveselected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and formingpart of the present specification. The novelty of the invention will beincluded in the claims succeeding said description. From this it will beapparent that I do not limit myself to the showing made by said drawingsand description as I may adopt many variatlons within the scope of myinvention as set forth in said claims.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1 1s a perspective view of theshippingtag in its fullest form. Fig. 2 is a view of the front or topsheet of the shipping tag. Flg. 3 is a view of the second sheet. Fig. 4is a view of the obverse side of the bottom sheet or way-bill tag. Fig.5 is a vlew of the reverse side of the bottom sheet or waybill tag.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Application filed Ianuary 17, 1914. serial No. 812,678.

tate the handling of packages by simplifying the work of the shipper orthe person receiving the package directly from the slnpper, by producingseveral records at one time and at the same time producing a waybill tagto be attached to the package. It is also .designed to facilitate andlessen the work of keeping up the oflice records of the entiretransaction from the time it is received from the consignor to the timeit is delivered to and receipted for by the consignee. The tags arepreferably made in different colors for different purposes, that is, awhite tag may indicate a collect shipment in which the express chargesare to be collected from the consignee, a yellow tag may indicate aprepaid shipment and a green ta may indicate a C. O. D. shipment in wich the cost of the merchandise and the express charges are to becollected from the consignee. The arrangement of spaces on the differentcolors or classes of tags for the insertion of data will vary somewhatwith the conditions of shipment, but such differences of arrangement areto be considered Within the purview of my invention.

The complete ta in its fullest form for use on packages WhlCh are to becarried over 7 several railroads or transportation lines before itreaches the consignee has been shown in the accompanying drawings. Inits fullest form, the shipping tag consists of the I way-bill tag 2,formed of heavy paper or of the same material that tags are usually madeof, and two superposed sheets 3-4 of paper or other material of the samesize, the waycausing a copy of the matter written on the written on theintermediate sheet to be made on the tag. This is accomplished byarranging a sheet of carbon paper a between the successive sheets or bycoating the reverse faces of the sheets 3 and 1 with a carbon materialor compound I).

The top sheet 4 is designated as the shippers receipt and is intended tobe torn off and retained by the shipper after it has been properlyfilled out. The shippers receipt is provided with a plurality of lineincloscd areas bearing different legends which indicate the data to beinserted in the various spaces. The arrangement of the spaces aresomewhat different in the shipping tags which are used for prepaid,collect or C. O. D. shipments and it is to be understood that thesechanges in arrangement are within the scope of my invention. At theupper portion of the sheet, the spaces 7, 8 and 9 are reserved for thename and address of the consignee, and wnen this data is written on thefront sheet, it is impressed on the second sheet and the tag. Belowthese spaces and at the left side of the sheet are spaces 12, 13 and 11in which are written the date of the shipment and the name and addressof the consignor. To the right of space 12 is a space 15 in which isprinted the character of the shipment, that is, whether it is collect,prepaid or C. O. D. Below space 15 is a space 16 in which is inserteddata which varies with the character )f the shipment or which is leftblank. Below the space 14 are spaces 17 and 18 in which are written thenature of the shipment and the shipment number. Below these spaces, is alarge space '19 extending across the sheet, in which is printed thevarious conditions under which the express company or transportationorganization accepts the shipment and other conditions and in this spacenothing is to be written on the.

first page. Below the space 19 are spaces in which the value, weight andexpress charges are to be inserted and below these 15 printed the nameof the express company and space is allowed below the name for thesignature of the person receiving the shipment for the company and tothe right is a space 21 which is left blank and in which nothing is tobe written. When this sheet is properly filled out and signed, it isdetached and handed to the consignor. The shipping tag is then or haspreviously been attached tothe package and the package with the tagthere on is carried or delivered to the distribution center of theexpress company in the city or locality in which the package isreceived.

When received by the express company, the shipping tag consists of theway-blll tag portion 2 and the sheet 3, the way-bill and ceipt isdivided into several areas, and in these areas are inserted the variousexpress charges depending on the nature of the shipment. The space 23 onthe office copy, which corresponds to thespace 19 on the .shippersreceipt, is left blank except at the bottom portion, at which the threespaces 24-2526 are provided, in which are written the name of the cityof shipment, the city of destination, the date and the route number ofthe first railroad over which the package is to be carried. The space 27on the office 'copy, corresponding to the space 21 on the first sheet,is divided into several areas in which various data in regard to theamount to becollected, etc., is written. This sheet is then torn OE andpreserved at the local office, and the data which has been writtenthereon appears on the tag 2. The spaces on any sheet which are to bewritten in are reproduced on the sheet or tag below, so that both sheetsand the tag contain spaces 7, s, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1c, 17, 1s and otherspaces in which data is written.

The way-bill or tag 2 is provided on its obverse face, with a lowerportion which is identical with the lower portion of the ofiice copyincluding the space 24 and ex tending to the lower edge of the tag. Thislower portion 28 of the tag is partly separated by the body of the tagby a weakened portion or perforated line 29 and is provided with spacein which the shipment number may be written. WVhen the package isreceived at the express office in the city of destination this lowerstub is torn off. This stub is finally sent to the general auditor ofthe express company and is designated the auditors' stub. On the reverseside of tag 2 and within the boundaries of the auditors stub are aplurality of line inclosed areas 31 in which the messengers of thetransportation or express companies on the different lines impress theirstamps, thus furnishing a record of the routing of the package, so thatthe auditor may calculate the proportionate earnings of the variouscompanies for carrying the package.

Above the auditors stub and correspond ing to the blank space on theoffice copy, between spaces 1718 and 24, is a stub 32 which is partlydetached from the body of the tag by the weakened portion or perforatedline 33. This portion of the tag has not been written on and constitutesa receipt 13 0 to be signed by the consignee and dated when the packageis delivered. This stub 32 also contains space in which the shipmentnumher is written. After the stub has been signed, it is detached andretained by the employee of the company, and is turned in at the localoffice. This stub is then matched with the auditors stub and if foundcorrect, the auditors stub is forwarded to the auditor and the deliveryreceipt stub is retained at the local office.

It is evident that for local shipments, a simpler tag may be used whichneed not embody all of the elements of this tag in its fullest form, andthat various changes in the arrangement of the spaces and thedesignations of the spaces may be made without departing from the scopeof my invention.

I claim:

1. A shipping tag comprising a tag portion to be attached to the packagebeing shipped and having a way bill form printed thereon, a superposedshippers receipt portion attached to said tag and having a form printedthereon similar to and in registration with the form on said tagportion, a carbon transfer surface between said tag and receiptportions, an area on said receipt portion containing printed matterrelating to the shipping agreement and an area on said tag under saidprinted area containing a printed delivery receipt form.

2. A shipping tag comprising asheet of thin material, a tag of heaviermaterial arranged beneath said sheet and attached thereto by an eyeletwhereby both maybe attached to a package, transfer means located betweensaid sheet and tag, similar areas in registration included on said sheetand tag to contain the name of the city of shipment, the city ofdestination, the date and the route number of the first railroad thereceipt of the names and addresses of the consignor and consignee, adetachable portion comprising a delivery receipt having an area thereonfor the receipt of the consignees signature and a detachable portionhaving on one surface areas to contain the names of the points ofshipment and destination and on the other surface areas to contain dataindicating the routing of the package.

4. A shipping tag comprising a tag portion to be attached to the packageand two superposed detachable sheets, similar line inclosed areas inregistration on said tag and sheets and line inclosed areas on said tagcorrespondin to a printed area on the upper superposed s eet.

5. A shipping ta comprisin a tag ortion, two superpose sheets, car onsur aces arranged between said sheets and tag portion, an eye securingsaid sheets and tag portion together, corresponding line inclosed areasin registration on said sheets and tag portion andnon-corresponding lineinclosed areas on said upper sheet and tag portion, the last mentionedareas of the ta portion bein separated from the body 0 the tag port1onby a weakened line.

In testimon whereof I have hereunto set my hand at an Francisco,California, this 12thday of January, 1914.

REEFY M. NICHOLS.

In presence of- H. G. Pnosr, P. S. PIDWELL.

